Half to peter collamore



(Model.) i v W. H. PROUTY.

CLOTHES PIN.4 l lvm-261,481. Patented July 18,-188,2.

Wzvaes'e's. y @67560-22 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

WILLIAM H. PROUTY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE HALF 'IOPETER OOLLAMORE, OFSAME PLAGE.

CLOTH ES-PIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 261,481, dated July 18,1882. Application tiled March 10, 1882. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. PROUTY, ofBoston, county ot' Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented anImprovement in Clothes-Pins, ot'which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to clothes-pins, and has for its object toproduoeapin which is not liable to become detached from the line, andywill hold the cloth more tightly than the ordinary pin and with lessliability to damage it.

The invention is embodied in a clothes-pin consisting ot two jawspivoted together at one end on a pivot at right angles to the actingfaces of the jaws by which`the clothes are held, the said jaws beingthus adapted to rotate one upon the other, and when brought in line orcoincident with one another they lie in contact for a considerabledistance from the said pivot. One of the said jaws is provided with anotch or depressor in its acting .faces to receive the clothes-line andcloth lying over it, the said clothes-line being inserted when theotherjaw is turned aside from coincidence with the notch-jaw, and at'terthe said line has been thus inserted the unnotched jaw is turned in linewith the notched one, therebypositively locking the line and cloth inthe said notch, so that the pin will not subsequently become detacheduntil the unnotched jaw is again positively turned aside by theoperator.

The drawing shows in side elevation, partly in ser-tion, a clothes-pinconstructed in accordance with this invention. The pin consists of twojaws, a b, united at one end by a pivot, c, at right angles to the facesby which the said pin engages the cloth and line to be held by it. Thesaid jaws are preferably made of wood which is somewhat elastic, andwhen turned on their pivot in coincidence with one another open out atthe end opposite the pivot, somewhat like the ordinary clothes-pin madeof a single piece of wood, the said jaws then being in contact with oneanother for a considerable distance from the pivot, and theirelasticity, incident in a measure to their end pivoting, is

utilized in more securely holding the clothesl in the pin. Oneot'thejaws, a, (shown as somewhat thicker than the other,) is providedwith a line-receiving notch, d, in the face next to the other jaw, b, sothat when the line, with the cloth surrounding it, is inserted in thesaid notch and the jaw b is over the said notch the said line iscompletely surrounded and positively held by the said clothes-pin, whichcannot be removed by a longitudinal pull thereon. To thus apply theclothes-pin to the line the jaw b has to be rst turned aside on itspivot, leaving the notch d uncovered, when the jaw a is pressedlaterally toward the line with the cloth over it, which sinks into thenotch d, after which the jaw b is turned into coincidence with the jawa, locking or inclosing the said line in the said notch.

I claim- A clothes-pin composed ot' the jaw a, provided with theline-receiving notch d, and the jaw b, pivoted to the end ot' jaw a, asshown, and extending-over the said notch, whereby it may be rotated onthe said pivot to uncover the said line-receiving notch, or to cover andlock the line therein, the saidjaws tlarin g apart n at their free ends,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses. A

WILLIAM H. PROUTY.

Witnesses:

Jos. P. LIVERMOEE, B. J. NoYEs.

